Google can’t keep up with demand for its Pixel phone

It appears that Google has underestimated the demand for its latest Pixel phone, with reports that a number of people who pre-ordered the device now have to wait until at least mid-November for their delivery.

Despite the first customers receiving their new Pixel phone in Australia one week earlier than planned, 9To5Google is reporting that many of those who had pre-ordered the phone are now being told online that their orders are still ‘pending’.

Deliveries are meant to have already commenced, and based on conversations with Google representatives online, many are still reiterating that their devices will arrive at the previously estimated date.

A number of customers have also been told that the online page with the ‘pending’ notice should be ignored.

By making contact through Google’s Project Fi (its wireless broadband service plan), a representative has told 9to5Google that the shipping department responsible for the Pixel is indeed running behind.

With a three-week delay, an order that was scheduled to arrive between 27 and 31 October will not arrive for a customer until 18 November.

Google responds

Google has now come out with a brief statement, confirming the delay as the result of demand exceeding supply. However, it has not addressed any of the customer support issues that has rocked its initial launch.

The statement read: “We’re thrilled to see the excitement for our new Pixel phones, and frankly, pre-order demand has exceeded our expectations. We’re working to restock our inventory as soon as possible.”

While Google’s Nexus phones have been popular products for dedicated Android users due to their use of the stock version of the operating system, the Pixel is the first phone designed and built by Google itself.

Some of the popular features revealed for the phone were the inclusion of unlimited cloud storage for photos and videos, 12.3MP rear cameras and 4GB of RAM.

The phone will also be one of the first phones to contain the new Google Assistant AI software designed as the successor to its popular Google Now software.